A Rain Of Roses: Pentecost at the Pantheon

On the occasion of the day of Pentecost, around 12 today, Sunday, May 20, 2018, the Fire Brigade will drop from the Central Oculus of the dome of the Pantheon thousands of petals of roses to commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. This is a very ancient tradition which has been suspended for some time, but has been restored since 1995.

Credits: corriere.roma.it

The Event & The Appointment

A unique emotion, for which every year gather many faithful and curious. The influx of people will be interrupted as soon as the basilica reaches the permitted number of those present for security reasons. The event will be preceded by the celebration of Holy Mass scheduled for 10:30 am.

The Monument

The Pantheon, the temple dedicated to all gods (from the greek language: Πάνθεων) , was built by Marco Vipsanio Agrippa (as the inscription on the façade clearly reminds us), son-in-law of Augustus, in the first century BC. Heavily damaged by the fires of 80 and 110 A.D., the current Pantheon is the result of a reconstruction commissioned by the Emperor Hadrian between 120 and 124 A.D. who, on that occasion, thanks to the genius of Apollodorus of Damascus, his trusted architect, revolutionized the structure of the temple by inverting its orientation with the north facing.

In 609 A.D. the Byzantine emperor Foca decided to donate the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV who transformed it into the present Christian church of Santa Maria ad Martyres. For this reason, the Pantheon is one of Rome’s best preserved temples.

The extraordinary dome, built with a single concrete throw, remains one of the greatest engineering masterpieces of the Roman world. Today it is the largest dome in the world made without reinforced concrete and supports.